March 9th Update

Friends!

I would love to write you a huge long post describing life in Yokadouma to you in detail, but I think you should just come to Cameroon instead. *There are many opportunities for short-term missions assignments! (from months up till 2-4 years!) (check out the wycliffe Canada website!)

Quick updates on life

*Adjusting to life in Yokadouma has gone pretty well, I'm feeling quite at home 

*I've been able to start developing good relationships with some of the people in the office, despite the fact that I still have lots of French to learn 

*Audrey and I have made friends with the daughters of one of the pastors. It's really fun and interesting and informative to just hang out with them and talk. What a blessing! (Audrey went  with them to an all night prayer meeting last week which she really loved!) 

*There was a COCELMPU general assembly meeting last week that went really well (it was the highest attendance yet with about 25 people) afterwards, I was speaking with one of the mobilizers (in charge of publicity and communication with villages) and he was saying that the growing interest and participation in the committee was so very encouraging. It was cool for him to see how God had worked to connect more people with the ministry and to give them this passion and desire! Also during the meeting, a couple people spoke with such passion that even I was encouraged (and I didn't even understand what they were saying!) 

*We (D, H, A , and I) have been reading through the book “When Helping Hurts” and I've been finding it incredibly interesting – it talks about development from a Christian prospective (Something I don't get in school) and really stresses how central relationships, especially our relationship with God, are in development. It talks about how we all are living in some sort of poverty and that Jesus is really the only way to fix that – be it material poverty or poverty in our relationships.  Join me this week in praying for... 

*Charlotte – the literacy coordinator of COCELMPU is traveling to villages for the next 2 ½ weeks working with the 'monitors' (people who live in the villages who are responsible to continue teaching literacy while she is away) to help them improve their teaching. Pray that she will be able to communicate well, and that her passion for literacy will be shared among the monitors. Pray for her travel and her health, and the reception of the literacy classes! 

*Joseph, one of the translators who is spending time in the villages over the next week and a half to improve his Mpumpong and test out some of the scriptures that have already been translated! Pray for his health, energy, further improvement of Mpumpong, and for good communication and feedback from the scritpures. 

*Audrey and me as we continue to adjust to life in Yokadouma, and develop relationships here 

*And last but not least, my French!  

Because Jesus Saves! 

-Andrea